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Welcome! Artfully Musing is a blog dedicated to sharing art and the techniques and products used. I'll be showcasing collage, altered and mixed media art as well as miniature. I hope you'll check back often and are inspired. Thanks for visiting! Laura

Saturday, September 5, 2015

Halloween Haunted Village Event - PART 1

The 2015 Haunted Village Event is here!!! Plan to spend your day shopping at the The Thrifty Witch. Then it is off to the Grizelda’s for a new quaff and on to the Retching Toad Eatery for dinner. Ring in midnight at the Happy Bat Tavern. In the morning (if you survive), on your way out of town stop at Ghoul & Sons Chemist for whatever ails you.

HAPPY BAT TAVERN

The Happy Bat tavern has been under the management of the house of Dracula for centuries. Herman, Dracula’s younger brother decided not to go into the family business but instead opened this tavern. On tap you’ll find Blood Beer, Hair of the Dog and Black Cat Brew. If your tastes run to wine there is Dracula’s Reserve and Witch Wine which has an unusual and indescribable aroma of rotten fruit.

Here are two of the regulars leaning on the bar getting an early start. Rottie the bartender is ready to serve your favorite libation.

GRIZELDA’S HOUSE OF BEAUTY

Of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder and this house of beauty is more of a house of pain. Grizelda’s insists on payment before service just in case….just in case you don’t survive the treatment.

At this salon, you’ll find state of the art electroshock therapy, the invigorating chair of nails and the nail press. Grizelda carries the ever popular Zombie line of cosmetics, which I think she secretly brews herself out of who knows what.

And there’s the lovely Grizelda showing another happy customer the results of their makeover.

THE RETCHING TOAD EATERY

Well the name says it all at a restaurant where road kill is served daily and specials include; Shrunken Head Soup, Brainloaf, Eyeball Casserole, Rat Fondue, Ghost Souffle and Earwax Pie.

Ah, two young lovers out on a date. I can tell the woman spent some time in Grizelda’s House of Beauty. I can just hear in her best southern accent say “I’m overwhelmed by your attentions.”

I’ve got a feeling that the cook’s missing hand ended up in the pot.

GHOUL & SONS CHEMISTS

A trusted name for 500 years and all of their best customers are underground.

You can see the boys are hard at work in the lab.

I see the local constable is out for a stroll.

Inside Mr. Ghoul is busy creating who knows what and I think he’s got a skeleton in his cabinet, maybe a secret ingredient of one of his potions.

THE THRIFTY WITCH

The go to place for all your magic needs. I see a happy moon man dancing with the broom he bought on sale.

I see Belladonna the owner of the Thrifty Witch in the front window.

Oh, they have lovey crystal balls, pumpkins, magic books and a Ouija board.

The Thrifty Witch carries all kinds of potions. The black cat hissing in front of the cabinet is Belladonna’s pet Sheba.

It’s an interesting town, particularly for zombies, ghouls, skeletons and ghosts. I hope you will be inspired to create your own version of a haunted town, business in the town or a haunted house to add to your Halloween display. For those who created Halloween Carnival pieces from the past event, these village pieces are a perfect complement and I will be tying in the carnival in Part 2.

There is a collage sheet for each of the 5 village pieces covered in PART 1 plus collage sheets with architectural elements like doors and windows and a couple of collage sheets with spooky pumpkins and people. I’ll be using the architecture related collage sheets throughout the entire event (Parts 1-3) and for the remaining parts there will be additional new collage sheets for each of the village pieces.

For those who purchase PDF collage sheets, you might find this older video tutorial of mine that covers how to how to resize PDF formatted collage sheets, how to cut and paste individual images from the collage sheets (which is great for only printing the images you want and printing multiple version of the image) and how to resize individual images, helpful.

The Facades & Interiors and the Roofs & Chimneys are only available as digital sets due to the large size of the images. The other digital sets contain the same images as the collage sheets plus some extras.You’ll find the detail contents of each set explained below.

This set includes a total of 27 images :

12 Facades that each measure 7.25 “ wide by 5.75” high – they are sized to fit the largest exterior of any of the houses from the bottom to where the roof line starts. Although they are labeled as facades you could use them on the inside of a house as well.

12 Interiors that each measure 7.25” wide by 10” tall – they are sized to fit the entire area of the largest house. Although they are labeled as interiors you could use some of them as facades

If you have any questions I suggest you use the Email Me button in the left side of the blog. If you post a question in the comments section, your email address may not be linked to the comment so I have no way to respond to you. If you have asked me a question in the past and have not gotten a response this is why.

First stop is the Black Cat Emporium where you’ll find unique, strange and sometimes ghoulish items. If you want to stay the night you can always get a room at the Buzzard Bed & Breakfast and should something unfortunate and final occur, Cadaver & Digger Undertakers will take care of everything.

Every village has its haunted mansion, a place that is whispered about and strangers are warned not to go near. For Grimsley Village it's Ghostmore Manor. Some say it's cursed other say it’s full of dark magic. Even the dastardly Cadaver and Diggers Undertakers avoid Ghostmore.

It’s a dark and stormy night in Grimsley Village, the kind of night Dr. Deranged has been waiting for. Tonight he will be taking advantage of the lighting storm to further his work on animating a giant brain.

With help from his mechanical minions, Dr. Derange hopes to see the culmination of his diabolical plans.

Inside all preparations have been made. The brain is resting on the platform being fed by tubes of fluid. The electrodes are in place leading up to the lightning collector installed on the roof.

In a fevered frenzy, Dr. Deranged works to finish the construction of his electrical plasma machines which he hopes will harness enough energy to animate the brain. His work is cutting edge and dangerous. If things don't work out, no doubt Cadaver and Digger will be the first on the scene.

You can see his formulas on the chalkboard, books, charts and laboratory equipment. It’s taken years of work culminating in this one night.

On the outside, the lab appears calm and serine surrounded by seasonal pumpkins and vines, but inside it’s a different story.

The storm is getting closer, which means it’s time to fire-up the machines.

Everyone in Grimsley Village senses something is about to happen. After tonight, the world might not ever be the same……BWAHAHAHAHA

The cemetery gates have been locked for years, no one goes in and no one comes out. Buried behind the gates are some infamous characters like Dracula and the members of the Usher family.Thankfully, Dracula’s coffin is chained and locked. Ghosts float in an out of the tombs, crypts, and mausoleums. It’s rumored that a werewolf stalks the ground. The locals lock themselves in their homes on a full moon.

OH Wow, this is totally amazing! What a Work of Art. I hope that i have time to play. I've already posted your badge on my blog with a link back to your site. I love Halloween projects and love that i found your site. So much fun and possibilities here. Thanks for a chance to win some of your amazing work.

I love your fantastic Halloween creations-every year they get better and better. I love the way you make the papers look like the actual thing. The buildings look like buildings not chipboard shapes-amazing. >^..^<

Again I am speechless. Your talent is endless. This Village is fantastic and definitely compliments the Halloween Carnival you created before for all of us. I wish I had a Blog to post your Badge on but since I don't, and since I recently started working part-time at a leading Craft Store, mainly to just get out of the house because I have yet to take home a full paycheck, LOL, I plan to let everyone I come in contact with know about your Event. I can't wait to see Part 2 and Part 3. AMAZING, but then again all your work is.

This is amazing! I can't imagine how much work you put into creating the haunted village. I have to participate in this, it looks like so much fun :) and I love love love Halloween.I also put your badge on my website: angiescraftystuff.com. My email is angie@angiescraftystuff.comAngie

Laura, your village is so wicked awesome. It's beyond wonderful, and I can't believe that just up the road a few minutes from me, all this spookiness resides. I have no more words, so I think I shall just say Trick or Treat, from your neighbor in Glendale.

Wowzers, Laura! So much to absorb! Your attention to detail is striking! I think I want to tackle the tavern first and then the chemist's. I will need to visit often to get all the info sorted out in my mind! Love your latest project! In addition to the time taken to make all these things, I know it also takes a lot just to write up the blog post, not to mention creating videos. Cheers to you! Thanks for all the freebies too! Helene

Well you are amazing! I'm absolutely participating in the swap, but I've picked up enough goodies to start working on a village with my husband as well. I've also put the badge up on my blog along with adding a little blog post with a couple of links back to you. Thanks for being so generous!

OMG Laura, your Haunted Village is so amazing! I already spread the word at ATCSFORALL.com and on my Facebook Page (Maggie Mannwieler). Your tutorial videos are great! I don't usually "do" Halloween projects but after viewing your tutorials, I just might try something with the chipboard houses:) You are a creative genius and provide so much inspiration - many thanks. Can't wait for #2 and #3!!

I'm completely and utterly blown away! What a joy of a post... as the daughter of a dollshouse collector and maker, who gets roped in a lot, I've enjoyed walking the streets of your Haunted Village no end. I'm off to put the badge on my blog sidebar, and really hope to be back to play along. I'm also going to send my mother along for a look!

I arrived here after seeing your gorgeous apothecary background being used by Deb Paxton of Valley Folk Art, and I'm so glad I followed her link.Alison x

Hey Laura, I'm just now getting our here to check out your haunted village! Amazing as always.Must have taken forever to create not to mention photographing and writing up the post. Kudos to you~!Hugs Lynn

Fantabulous Halloween Village! I love this post ...so much information...great! I wish I could make it...winning these awesome collage sheets would be a great start! Thanks for this post and chance to win. What fun if I won!😀 (email I know use is kkzgardenmum@aol.com)

Hi Laura! Hey, I posted your Haunted Village info. at ATCForall.com (under Announcements) and on my Facebook page. How do I go about getting a free collage sheet from you? I have purchased your set of 11 collage sheets from AlphaStamps and I am waiting for my order to arrive, so I don't need any of the collage sheets that come with your set of 11. I am also waiting for my chipboard houses and some decor items from AlphaStamps so I can enter your contest. As soon as I receive my AlphaStamps order, I'll get to work on my entry:) I love all of your wonderful inspiration, you're the best I always say:)